Reno,
Nev.
(April 2004) –With increasing global
competition for talent, our nation’s need for intelligent, creative
people in every field has never been greater. But for many of our most
brilliant youngsters, school is a purgatory of boredom and lost
opportunities.

“Highly
intelligent students are largely ignored by our schools,” said Jan
Davidson, co-founder of the Davidson Institute for Talent Development, a
nonprofit organization dedicated to nurturing the talents of profoundly
gifted students, and co-author of Genius Denied: How to Stop Wasting Our
Brightest Young Minds. “Our
schools are structured to help struggling students meet state and federal
standards, so the brighter the child, the more likely he or she will suffer
in a school that teaches to the middle.”

“Suffering”
in this case is chronic boredom that leads to underachievement and, often,
dropping out of school. Research indicates as many as one in five high
school dropouts test in the gifted range.

The
alarming statistics don’t stop there. Almost
two-thirds of states do not require that gifted students be identified and
58 percent do not require that gifted students receive an education
appropriate to their abilities. Recent stories by the New York Times[1]and
Wall Street Journal[2]
detail how, facing new education mandates and decreasing revenues, states
and local districts are eliminating funding and programs for advanced
students. Approximately 1.5 million gifted students are underchallenged by
standard school curriculums, and given this undemanding educational
environment society suffers the lost of their potential future
contributions.

“America
is doing itself a great disservice by neglecting the needs of gifted youth
and essentially throwing away our most valuable resource,” Davidson said.
“These students are the ones who will find a cure for AIDS or cancer, who
will end our dependence on fossil fuels, who will create the new technology
that will drive our future economy. By denying them the opportunity to
develop their talents, the entire country – and maybe even the world –
will never reap the benefits of what these students could someday
achieve.”

Genius
Denied, which Jan co-authored with her husband Bob and freelance writer
Laura Vanderkam, calls for a major shift in thinking for teachers,
administrators and policy-makers, and encourages school reform that focuses
on attending to the educational needs of every student. The book
outlines specific steps that students, parents, educators, mentors, patrons
and policy-makers can take to make the system work – or to work around
the system – in order to help gifted students achieve their potential.

“We
want to live in a world where such talent is harnessed and put to use,”
the Davidsons write. “We can’t expect to benefit from gifted
children’s creativity later if we let schools dull their minds into
indifference now.”

The
companion Web site to Genius Denied,www.GeniusDenied.com,
offers extensive resources for parents, educators, students, and others;
and information about state and federal policies regarding education of
gifted students as well as excerpts and reviews, and the latest news about
gifted education.

ABOUT
THE AUTHORSJan
and Bob Davidson are the founders of the Davidson Institute for Talent
Development, a nonprofit foundation that provides assistance to gifted
children and to schools. They are the founders and former chief executives
of Davidson & Associates, the educational software company that
published “Math Blaster.”They
live in Incline Village, Nev.The
Davidsons will donate their portion of the proceeds from this book to
assist gifted and talented youth.Laura
Vanderkam is a freelance writer
based in New York City.

ABOUT
THE DAVIDSON INSTITUTE FOR TALENT DEVELOPMENTLocated in Reno, Nev., the
Davidson Institute for Talent Development is a 501(c)3 nonprofit operating
foundation founded in 1999 by educational software entrepreneurs, Bob and
Jan Davidson. The mission of the Davidson Institute is to recognize,
nurture and support profoundly intelligent young people and to provide
opportunities for them to develop their talents to make a positive
difference. For more information on the Davidson Institute for Talent
Development, please visit www.DavidsonGifted.org,
or call (775) 852-3483.